How EURES can lead jobseekers to a life of fun and games!

12.05.2010

Sarah Rutherford-Bryant of the United Kingdom was looking for an opportunity to move to Germany, in order to gain international experience, improve her German, and immerse herself in German culture. As a result of the cooperation between EURES and a private German employment agency, Sarah is now doing just that.
At a Language Fair in October 2009, Sarah Rutherford-Bryant met United Kingdom EURES Adviser Joe Bennett. The Language Fair was an event dedicated to jobseekers with good language skills, and Sarah’s high level of German meant she was keen to find out about employment opportunities in Germany. Joe immediately encouraged her to apply for a particularly interesting position located in Germany, with a famous international company in the entertainment electronics sector. The job itself was extremely tempting as the company were looking for jobseekers with excellent English proofreading skills to test video games!

This exciting opportunity arose as a result of a promising cooperation between EURES and fitarbeiten Personaldienstleistungen, a private German employment agency based in Frankfurt. At a 2009 European Job Day Joe met Stefanie Vollhardt, an HR Manager from the agency who specialises in international recruitment. Both Joe and Stefanie immediately saw the potential for a long-term cooperation as there was a steady flow of jobs from one client of fitarbeiten’s in particular – the international company working in the entertainment sector. This company was offering candidates temporary work with the possibility of a long term contract and Joe realised that this would be a great opportunity for recent graduates searching for international experience.

Joe requested that Stefanie submit the vacancy for posting with Jobcentre Plus, the UK government-funded employment agency and a member of the EURES network, and it was also published on EURES portal. When Joe attended the Language Fair in October 2009, he took the details of the vacancy with him.

‘I clearly remember meeting Sarah because she seemed so enthusiastic! I immediately encouraged her to apply to Stefanie at fitarbeiten via email,’ said Joe. Stefanie continued the story, ‘I remember that the first application we got was actually from Sarah. Joe had already told me she was an excellent candidate, and her language skills really impressed us.’ In addition to her German, Sarah had highly developed IT skills, having used a variety of office, image editing, and music production software. And, importantly, she loved video games.

‘I sent Sarah an English language test by email, and she performed excellently. Joe sent over all of Sarah’s original documents, such as diplomas and certificates. Then, we just had to present Sarah to the client,’ said Stefanie. Sarah went for the interview in November, and was immediately hired. Two weeks later, she began working in Frankfurt. ‘We helped her find accommodation and sorted out all her paperwork for living and working in Germany,’ said Joe. Sarah is still with this employer, and is extremely happy in her current situation.

‘We are in contact with EURES Advisers in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany and we find their personalised service very productive’, says Stefanie. ‘We always have jobs similar to Sarah’s available, and we are attending various European Job Days which EURES UK invited us to. Working with EURES has been an excellent experience!’.